The Right to Be Happy
by SlytherinMalfoyPureblood
Summary: It's been months since the Dark Lord defeated Harry Potter. When her family's safety is threatened, Ginny is forced to marry a former Death Eater: Blaise . The night of Ginny Weasley's wedding, Hermione finds herself sharing a drink with Draco Malfoy. Stuck in an unhappy marriage, Hermione feels trapped and hopeless as she watches her best friend make the same mistake she did.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

She stared wide-eyed at her reflection. There was no denying it, she looked stunningly beautiful. She looked like those happy brides in the magazines, the ones advertising expensive designer gowns.

Her long, elegant white dress gave shape to her every curve. Her hair had been fixed into soft, bouncy curls. She removed her veil for a moment in order to further appreciate her beauty. Her face had been beatifically sculpted with makeup. But underneath all that makeup, there was no trace of the women she used to be.

She looked like a real-life version of those muggle bedtime princesses that her mother used to read to her when she was younger. She couldn't stop staring at herself in the long mirror that was aligned to the wall. She couldn't stop looking at the woman that she had become.

Her haze was interrupted when someone knocked at the door.

"Come in!" she said as she quickly fixed her composure.

Her best friend walked into the room. She had her hair up in a messy bun, with soft curls framing the front of her face. She was wearing a long, elegant emerald dress.

Her friend walked up to her and wrapped her arms around her shoulders from behind. Looking at her reflection on the mirror, she said:

"You look beautiful."

They both made eye contact at their reflection on the mirror. She knew that her friend was one of the few people that understood what she was feeling right then.

She turned her around to give her a warm hug, tears filing up on her eyes.

"I'm sorry for crying. You must be very nervous right now. I remember I was when I got married."

She hugged her best friend, too scared to let go. She knew that in a few short moments she was going to be walking down the aisle, with the staring eyes of so many people fixed upon her. She turned around once again, and looked at her reflection. Her eye makeup had been smudged from the tears that she had shared with her best friend. She quickly wiped her eyes, and turned to face her friend again.

"Thank you so much for being here today. I needed someone here to stop me from breaking down. I'm so nervous and I honestly don't kno-"

Her short speech was interrupted by her mother, who frantically walked into the room.

"Honey, for god's sake! You're running out of time. Come on, put on your veil! You should be walking out the door in a few moments."

She reluctantly followed her mother's advice, knowing that the veil would provide the perfect shield from her tears. People would not be able to look into her eyes and see the sorrow that surrounded them.

"Sweetie, do you mind making your way outside already? You should probably join the rest of the bridesmaids already." Her friend promptly followed the mother's advice, and walked out of the room while sharing one last stare with her friend.

Finally alone, her mother looked at her. Her only daughter was getting married, and she couldn't contain the feelings riled up inside her. She looked at her beautiful daughter, whom stared back at her through the veil.

"Honey, you know I love you right? You know that I'm so incredibly proud of you, and the sacrifices that you've made for this family. As a married woman, you will be entering a new stage of your life, and wish you nothing but the best. "

She looked back at her mother. The person that had seen her grow into the individual that she was today. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't help but feel some kind of hatred as she looked back at her. She couldn't help but make her responsible for the future that awaited her.

She gave her mother a small smile, but she was sure that even through the veil, she was able to detect just how fake that smile was.

Her mother walked out of the room without saying another word. She took advantage of the last few moments that she had alone. The last few moments left of her liberty. This time, she couldn't prevent the tears from forming in her eyes. She didn't care about ruining her makeup, or staining the expensive veil.

All she wanted, all she wished for was to be somewhere else. Somewhere where she wouldn't be forced to marry a man that she despised, a man that she didn't care about.

She heard another knock on her door, signaling that it was time for her to walk out the door. She drew in a strong fit of fresh air before walking out.

The long hallway was empty. She realized that she could apparate anywhere, and no one would notice.

She soon laughed at her train of thought, realizing that she made no sense. Her soon to be husband was too smart to beat. He had probably already prohibited all signs of apparition from his manor.

Every step that she took felt heavier than the other one. She saw her mom enter the hallway. She felt her drag her down the hallway, hurrying her way to the garden. The garden where it would all take place. The garden where she would lose her liberty once and for all.

But it was as though she wasn't there at all. It felt as if she was stuck in another dimension, staring in from the outside. She was just another witness of the crime that was taking place, but she was not there at all.

As she approached the garden, she could hear traces of the conversations going on between people. People that she had probably never met before in her entire lifetime.

She saw her eldest brother waiting for her. He took her arm, and lifted her veil just enough to kiss her cheek softly.

She tried pushing him away discreetly. She was not in the mood to withstand her family's hypocrisy. It would be too hard for her to forgive what they were forcing her to do.

He looked at her and held her closer to him. He got close enough to her to whisper a simple, sincere apology. She inhaled fresh air again, and fixed her composure.

"I'm ready."

The piano music was overwhelmingly loud as she walked down the aisle. She could hear every note banging against her eardrums. Her stare discreetly roamed across the crowd, looking for that one person.

No matter how hard she looked, she was disappointed to determine that he would not show up. He would not show up to save her from this imprisonment.

It had been months since he had left, and she still couldn't accept the fact that he was gone. She had been grasping to the very last moment, waiting for him to come rescue her. Waiting for him to be the knight in shining armor that he had been all throughout his life.

Her family was seated in the very first row. They were all facing her as she took the very last steps of her liberty. They gave her smiles of encouragement. Her mother was sobbing silently. One of her brothers held her in his arms, trying to silence her. On the opposite side, on the very front row too, her future in-laws sat.

The groom's father was staring at her. Instead of a smile, he portrayed a small smirk. His wife was sitting next to him, dressed all in black. She rolled her eyes, knowing that that woman was better dressed for a funeral than a wedding.

She saw all the bridesmaids lined up on one end of the aisle. The only one she recognized was her best friend, whom gave her a small supportive smile. The groom's sister was standing next to her, wearing a short pastel dress. She was accompanied by her close friend, who was wearing a short dress just as revealing. The woman looked at her with resentment, silently wishing that she was in her position.

On the opposite side of the aisle, she could see all of the groom's men aligned next to the groom. His best man was standing directly next to him, they were whispering among themselves. Among the groom's men, she was able to recognize her youngest brother. He was staring back at her, silently smirking. She felt her face fueled by anger; she blamed him for her current actions.

At the very end of the aisle, waiting for her arrival, stood her soon to be husband. The man that she was supposed to be filled with excitement about spending the rest of her life with. Unfortunately, all she could feel was an immense hatred towards him.

He was responsible for taking away her liberty and her will of living.

As she made her way to the end of the aisle, she could detect the feigned smile on his face.

She turned to face him, and he lifted the veil from her face. It was then that she realized that underneath all that makeup, underneath her stunningly sculpted face, a frown was hidden well beyond the borders of her face.

She looked at him as tears formed in her eyes. He took her face in his hands, and used his thumbs to blur the tears away. Closing the gap between them, forehead to forehead, he held taunting eye contact with her as kissed her.

In the eyes of everyone, they were just another happy, newly-wed couple. But behind the shield of their fake smiles, hatred surrounded them.

It was then that Ginevra Weasley swore to revenge this moment by making Blaise Zabini's life a torture.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 _Months earlier…_

Hermione woke up to something banging unbearably loudly. She groaned and turned to her other side, trying to regain the peace that had surrounded her moments earlier. Unfortunately, the loud banging noise refused to go away.

Finally, reluctantly, she threw her bed covers on the floor and dragged herself towards the creator of such an unpleasant sound. As she walked down the hallway of her small apartment, she was able to see that it was currently 1:56 A.M.

Her heart started beating faster. There was no way good news awaited her at such an early time of the day. Her mother had always warned her that nothing good ever happened after 2:00 A.M. Her mind started piling up with possible outcomes that could've happened to her friends. In the midst of a war, one could only expect bad news.

As she opened the door, she was surprised to see her boyfriend standing mere feet away from her. Excitement filled every cell of her body as she enthusiastically wrapped her arms around him.

"I expected you to be in Whitehall by now! What are you doing here?"

Oliver pulled away from her and shared a sincere smile with her.

"I decided that no position in the Ministry of Magic would ever be more valuable than having you by my side! I- I know that we're in the middle of a prolonged war. And I know that it might go on for many more years.

But it's been almost three years since you saved my life in the Battle of Hogwarts. It's been three years of falling more and more in love with you. And I've finally decided that we have no certainty of living much longer. Anything could happen, and I could lose you in a blink of an eye. So I've decided that I want us to live in the moment."

Hermione stared wide-eyed at him as he kneeled in front of her, in the middle of the empty hallway.

He took out a small, velvety box and opened it to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. There was a small snitch engraved in the interior of one of the diamond crystals.

"Hermione Granger, I want you to be my wife. I want you to spend the rest of your life with me, regardless of how long that might be."

Hermione felt tears forming in her eyes as she felt him slide the ring into her finger. He stood up and wrapped her into a tight hug.

She placed her face on top of his shoulder, giving her the perfect view to the clock on the wall:

2:08 A.M

Maybe good things could happen after 2:00 A.M.

"You're marrying him?! You do realize that we're in the middle of a war right?", said Ginny the next morning as they shopped at her favorite shoe store.

"Says the one dragging me around a shopping center. Ginny, it's been three years since this war started. Look at all this people walking around like everything's normal. We've all gotten used to this, and I don't want to waste anymore of time worrying about a war that might never end. I've put a stop to my life for so long, and I need to finally do something for myself."

Ginny continued browsing for a pair of black leather heels in her size.

"Do you think you have these ones in a size 6?" She asked one of the retail sellers standing nearby. As the young attendant walked towards the storage room, Ginny shifted her attention back to Hermione.

"Mione, the problem is not that you're marrying him during such a crisis. The problem is that this crisis might be the reason you're marrying him."

Hermione stared blankly at her redheaded friend. She would be lying if she denied thinking the exact same thing earlier that day. Hermione had gotten used to Oliver's presence, she had gotten used to having him by her side through all those painful moments.

The war had forced her to grow up faster than expected. She had gone from being a normal teenager to having to erase any trace of her existence from her parents' memories.

Oliver had been there to hold her at night when she had nightmares. Oliver had been the one who had controlled her every time she broke down thinking about her parents. Oliver was the one who drove her all night when she broke off her engagement with Ron.

Oliver had been the one repairing every broken piece of her life. Yet, she didn't feel butterflies with just a single stare into his eyes. She didn't feel her heart beat faster every time he kissed her or caressed her face.

Most of all, there were nights when she didn't feel safe lying in his arms.

That night she found herself sitting outside the Burrow, pulling grass out of the ground as she nervously tried to ignore Ron's curious glance.

"I shouldn't have come here. I- I don't know what I expected by coming here. I'm sorry."

As she made an attempt to get up, he stopped her.

"I know that you're getting married. You came here for a reason. You came here because you want me to stop you."

As she heard the words come out of his mouth, she realized that it had been such an idiotic idea to go looking for him. It had been pointless to leave such an important decision to someone who was no longer part of her life.

"I didn't come here for your approval. Don't mistake it. I came here because after you broke me apart, after our engagement was over, I never expected to fall in love again. I never expected to have someone, again."

She looked at the shredded grass in her hands.

"I want you to tell me that he's not like you. Tell me that he won't break me apart. Tell me that there won't come a day when he'll wake up and realize that he made a mistake by choosing me."

By now, tears were running down her eyes. She couldn't hold her composure anymore.

She could remember that awful afternoon when Ron had yelled at her, breaking her completely apart. He had blamed her for losing movement in his right arm. She could remember the way his face had matched the color of his bright, red hair.

" _You promised me that you would heal me! You promised me that everything would be alright! How am I supposed to help Harry when I can't even hold a bloody wand? You're a shitty girlfriend and you're a shitty healer!"_

 _She had stared at him wide-eyed, waiting for him to stop yelling. Waiting for his words to stop hurting._

" _Ron! I tried everything I could! There was nothing I could do to save your arm! I'm so sorry."_

" _I'll never forgive you for this! Thanks to you, I'll be a freak for the rest of my life."_

 _The next few hours were a blur to her. She could remember him telling her that he didn't love her anymore. She could remember throwing the ring in his face. She could remember begging him to stop when he had started packing his bags. Most of all, she could remember the last look of pity he gave her before walking out the door._

Ron stared at her and wrapped his left arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sure you'll make an outstanding wife. Wood will not make the same mistakes I did. He won't take you for granted."

Hermione gave him a small smile. Despite the fact that almost three years had gone by, she still felt the need to have his reassurance. She felt the need to know first-hand that she wasn't going to get hurt again.

They had tried time after time to reestablish the close friendship that they had once , but it had become impossible to pretend that nothing had ever happened between them.

Hermione felt that Ron would always blame her for his disability, even if he denied it now.

"Thanks. I appreciate this."

She gave him one last smile before getting up. As she stretched out her leg, she mentioned:

"Tell your mother that I'll come back for dinner some other day."

She made her way to her car. She had decided to drive to the Burrow instead of simply apperating because she had known that driving would take her mind off things.

"Hermione, wait!"

She turned around to face Ron.

"If you feel so insecure about this decision, maybe it's because deep down you know it's not the correct one."

The next few weeks happened in the blink of an eye. Soon, Hermione found herself returning from her honeymoon.

The truth had finally sunk in. She had made the wrong decision, and it was too late to change her mind.

Her mom had always been right.

 _Nothing good ever happens after 2:00 A.M._

 **Author's Note: The next few chapters will be like this one, set months before Ginny's wedding to Blaise. There will be little Dramione interaction in the next few chapters, but remember that this IS a Dramione fanfic. I'm just trying to set the mood of the story before jumping right it. There will be a lot of Ginny/Harry in the upcoming chapters.**


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